Arctic Freezer i30 review

Performance Analysis

The Arctic Freezer i30's result in our LGA1155 system was nothing short of excellent. It was the best-performing air cooler on test with a load delta T of just 39°C. This was even enough to see off the Corsair H100 and H80 at their lowest fan speeds by several degrees, and also 1°C better than the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro, which costs nearly twice as much. Only the all-in-one water-cooling systems on their medium and full speed settings managed to better it, and even then by just a couple of degrees.


In our LGA2011 test system, the Freezer i30 wasn't quite as spectacular, but it was still noticeably better than the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro. Here it managed the same delta T as the Corsair H80 at its lowest fan speed setting, while the Corsair H100 saw our CPU report a delta T 7°C lower at its lowest fan speed setting, and 13°C lower at its full speed setting

We haven't tested many air coolers on LGA2011 yet, but the Thermaltake Frio Advanced was 6°C cooler than the Freezer i30. However, the Arctic was far, far quieter than the Frio, only making a mild din which wasn't even discernible above the graphics card and case fans we used. However, both the Corsair H80 and H100 were noticeably quieter.


Conclusion
The Arctic Freezer i30 was quite a result for the books. It's been a long time since Arctic has produced anything that's both affordable and effective, and the Freezer i30 has both of these qualities in abundance. It costs just £30, yet manages to keep up with with the big guns like the Corsair H80 on their low fan speeds, albeit with slightly more noise.

In fact, it barely costs any more than other good but affordable coolers such as the Gelid Tranquillo. If you're not keen on the idea of spending more than £30 on your CPU cooler, but still appreciate low noise and cooling prowess, we can thoroughly recommend the Freezer i30.